1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of bicycle racks, and particularly toward bicycle racks to be used on public transportation vehicles, such as city buses.
2. Background
Bicycle transport through cities is an increasingly desirable option due to the problems of rising gas prices and toxic emissions from motor vehicles. An inherent problem with bicycle travel is that long distance requires large amounts of time. To continue to achieve the benefits of bicycle riding as an alternative to driving a motor vehicle, it is desirable to be able to take advantage of public transportation such as city buses.
In order to take advantage of city bus transportation while maintaining the ability to drive autonomously on a bicycle, a means needs to exist on the bus that can transport the bicycle as well. Currently, there are bicycle racks on some city buses, but these racks do not have the ability to carry large numbers of bicycles (in a tight, compact manner that enables the attachment and disengagement of the bicycle from the rack in a quick, easy manner). Lacking capacity of more than two or three bikes proves to be a significant disincentive to bicyclists, since the existing racks can fill to their maximum so quickly.